New AI device: Sam Altman talks about the plans

The head of Openaai, Sam Altman, gave employees of his company on Wednesday, which he would like to develop together with the former Apple design chief Jony IVE together with the former Apple design manager. As the US day newspaper Wall Street Journal reports exclusivelyAltman spoke about plans for the delivery of 100 million AI devices that are supposed to become part of everyday life. The employees have “the chance to do the largest that we have ever done as a company,” said Altman.

On Wednesday, the news caused a sensation that Chatgpt developer Openaai bought the Ki-hardware start-up IO of the former Apple designer Jony IVE for $ 6.5 billion and creates its own department for the development of AI-controlled devices. IVE and its design studio LOVEFROM will therefore take over the design of Openai and IO, including the software. But where does Altman get the billions from and what is the deal good for? Quite a few ask themselves this question.

Altman now indicated that the billion-dollar takeover has the potential to increase the value of Openaai by a trillion US dollar, as can be seen from a recording to which the Wall Street Journal has access. At the meeting with Openai employees, Altman and IVE also gave a few indications of the secret project on which they are working on. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new product will be able to fully perceive the surroundings and the life of the users. It will be an inconspicuous device that can be found in the pocket or on the desk, it is said, and used by the users as the third core device after the MacBook Pro and the iPhone.

Exemplary Apple devices

The new devices are not intended as a replacement for smartphones: “As the smartphone did not repress the laptop, our first product will not replace the smartphone. It is a completely new type of device,” said Altman when the cooperation with IVE announced on Wednesday. The goal is a new AI gadget that does not have a screen, it said. According to Altman, the Wall Street Journal reported that the new device will not be a smart glasses and IVE has skeptically shown to design a device that is wearing the body. As the newspaper now writes, Altman spoke of a “device family” and expressed its preference for the way Apple integrates its hardware and software offers. For the ultimate success, confidentiality is important, Altman told the Openai employees to prevent competitors from copying the product before it is finished.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Ive’s team has been talking to providers for months who are able to deliver the device to a large scale. How big this scope should be indignant statements by Altman. “We will not literally deliver 100 million devices on the first day,” said the Openai CEO, but this large amount of high-quality devices will be “delivered faster than any company has ever delivered 100 million new devices”. The aim is to launch a device by the end of next year.

Cooperation goes back longer

The first rumors about meetings by Altman and IVE have been around for a long time. They later confirmed themselves. Accordingly, Ives design company LoveFrom took over a design order from Openai for an AI product that is not more detailed. It was originally planned, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Ives start-up Io builds and sells its own device with the technology of Openai. But he finally realized that this would not work, said Altman. Because the device is not just an accessory, but a central facet of user relationship with Openaai, the two companies should have been brought together. At the beginning of April, reports appeared that Openaai was interested in taking over the stealth spin-off IO of his design company LoveFrom launched by IVE.

Altman said that he and IVE had been convinced that the existing devices would not work. Although Chatgpt has changed people’s expectations of the performance of the AI ​​technology, it is still used according to the old pattern: a website is called on the laptop, typed and waited. The new device from Openaai and IO wants to change this. What it could look like is still the subject of many speculation. Also really brought light to the Openai employees.